


All In

by Tammaiya



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Asahi's life is hard, M/M, Post canon, a lot of investment has gone into this betting pool, their friends are all assholes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-24 22:44:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12022623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tammaiya/pseuds/Tammaiya
Summary: Of all the bars in all the world, Daichi had to decide to get drunk and mope about his ridiculous thirst for Suga in Asahi's.





	All In

In almost all respects, Asahi’s shift had started like any other Thursday evening, with a respectable number of salarymen and university students frequenting the bar where he worked but none of the crowds or hardcore drinkers he tended to see on Saturdays. Daichi had come in with his work colleagues, but that was hardly unusual, since it was in walking distance of Daichi’s office building.

What _was_ unusual was that Daichi was still here and still drinking when all of his co-workers had already left.

To Asahi's knowledge, Daichi had never once gotten drunk to excess. He had naturally high tolerance to alcohol to start with, but he also had the kind of restraint that most of their former classmates lacked. Daichi was the one who made sure they all got home safely when Tanaka and Noya were barely standing or on the rare occasions when Suga was so sloppy drunk he was draping himself over his friends like they were furniture and constantly giggling. If anything, Asahi would probably describe Daichi as a social drinker; he would drink when he went out for work or with friends, but only in company and always in moderation.

If Daichi was still here, drinking by himself long after everyone else had left, something was definitely not right.

Asahi was mixing a drink for the couple at his end of the bar, keeping an eye on Daichi and wondering if he should try and intervene somehow when the other bartender on shift, Takeuchi Hanako, sidled up to him and tugged on his shirt.

“Hey, Asahi-san,” she said in a low voice, “the guy in the suit down the other end, he’s your friend, right?”

“Um… yes?” Asahi said, the response coming out sounding more like a question. “I mean, yes, he is. Is there a problem?”

“Mm, I can't say for sure,” Takeuchi said. “It's not like he's causing trouble or anything, he's been perfectly well-behaved, just I'm a little worried about how much he's had, y’know? Like, is this guy okay? So I just thought, if he's your friend…”

Asahi winced as he finished mixing the cocktail drinks and passed them to the girl waiting. “Sorry, I'll… can you take over here?” he said after the girl and her boyfriend had taken their drinks and moved to a table away from the bar. “I'll talk to him.”

“Yeah, sure, go for it,” Takeuchi said, and he ducked his head in gratitude before crossing to the other end of the bar where Daichi was sitting.

“Asahi,” Daichi said, blinking at him. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Asahi echoed, and cleared his throat. “Is, um. Is everything okay? Just… with work and things?”

“Work’s fine,” Daichi sighed. “Or… work. Work’s work.”

“Um… sure,” Asahi agreed. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to take some kind of meaning from this, but Daichi was definitely not up to his usual standards of articulation. “So… is there a reason you're drinking so much? I mean. Not that you can't, just… it's not very you?”

Daichi held up his mostly empty glass of sake, which the bar served in whiskey glasses instead of traditional ceramic cups, staring at the clear liquid contemplatively.

“‘S s’posed to help, right?” he slurred. “Ev’ryone says. Worth a try.”

“Uhhhh,” said Asahi, who based on professional observation tended to think that this was definitely not true, but also knew from experience that reasoning with drunk people was pretty futile. “Supposed to help with what, exactly?”

Daichi knocked back the remainder of his glass, as if he needed it for fortitude, and grimaced. “Suga.”

Asahi felt his heart sink, fearing that this was going to go downhill very quickly.

“What about Suga?” he said, hoping nothing was seriously wrong. He would have heard if it was, wouldn't he? Someone would have told him.

"He's just," Daichi said, "just so. Just so _Suga_ , y'know?"

"Um," said Asahi, who didn't, really, although he'd once said something very similar about Noya, so maybe he did, a little. He was relieved, for Suga’s sake, but if Daichi had progressed to hopeless nonsensical mooning around, out loud, then he'd definitely had a bit too much. "Maybe you should stop drinking now?"

"Nooooo," Daichi said, although it was somewhat obscured by the way he'd buried his face in his arms, crossed on the bar. "Alcohol is the only thing keeping me sane."

That didn't sound good. Asahi wondered if he should call Suga, or if that would make things worse.

He surreptitiously pulled out his phone under the bar and pulled up LINE.

_Noya help Daichi is really drunk what do I do do I call Suga???_

_dude no thats a violation of the bro code_ , Noya sent back barely ten seconds later. _dont do it!!!!!1 but make sure he stays hydrated i believe in u_

Bro code? What was a-- no, never mind, this was probably one of those Noya and Tanaka things Asahi didn't need to know about.

Still, Noya tended to have a better feel for this kind of thing than Asahi did, and if he said not to call Suga, he was probably right.

Asahi sighed. _Thanks_ , he responded, a bit morosely. He had a feeling that managing Daichi by himself might be easier said than done.

"Daichi, would you like some water?" he suggested, when Daichi looked like he might be planning on ordering yet another glass of sake.

Daichi craned his neck to squint up at Asahi, managing a very skeptical and judgemental expression for someone so bleary-eyed drunk. "What kind of bartender asks someone if they want water?"

"A responsible one," Asahi told him, a little reproachfully. Usually Daichi would be one of the first to try and parent their former kouhai into sensible drinking when they went out, but he supposed that usually Daichi wasn't drinking alone and feeling sorry for himself. "Water?"

"I don' want water," Daichi said sullenly. "I want Suga."

Asahi reached across the bar to give him a tentative pat on the shoulder. He also poured Daichi a glass of tap water, just in case he changed his mind, or maybe didn't notice it wasn't sake.

"Do you... want to talk about it?" Asahi offered after a moment. Honestly, he was pretty rubbish at the whole listening ear thing, especially for a bartender-- he got so stressed out by other people's problems that they ended up feeling worse, more often than not-- but he kind of felt like he should at least try, especially for one of his closest friends.

"How is he so hot?" Daichi said, which was probably a yes. That, or he was just talking to himself while Asahi happened to be standing there, which was not impossible. "He's just. He's so... he's so... Ugh."

"Ugh?"

"Ugh," Daichi said sadly. "I want him to have my babies."

"Um," said Asahi yet again, because after all the time they spent playing volleyball together, Daichi should know better than anyone that Suga lacked the vital equipment for that. "Babies?"

"Babieeeees," Daichi moaned. "So cute. So good with children. How'm I supposed to deal with that, Asahi? What'd I do to deserve this?"

Oh. Asahi had a sudden realisation about what must have brought this on.

"Did your sister ask you to drop Chiyo off at school again?"

"Have you ever seen Suga at work before?" Daichi asked, which was as good as a 'yes', since Chiyo was in Suga's kindergarten class. "Covered in children. Tiny children in smocks. They adore him. He's adorable. I just. He would be such a great dad."

"You could always adopt?" Asahi suggested, although that was less the problem here than the fact that Daichi hadn't actually managed to ask Suga out yet. After ten years. Ten whole years, the majority of which they had spent flirting with each other and frustratingly not going anywhere with it.

It wasn't often that Asahi got to feel like less of a coward than Daichi or Suga, but at least he and Noya had actually told each other how they felt back when they were still in highschool, rather than still dragging their feet about it five years later. (Okay, Noya had confessed to him, but Asahi had managed to not screw it up, so it totally counted.)

"You think?" Daichi said wistfully, instead of telling Asahi he was an idiot beard and to stop helping, which was definitely a sign he'd had way too much. "Suga would make such good mum bentos. Maybe I should ask him."

"Maybe you should ask him out on a date first," Asahi said, wondering if he should try to confiscate Daichi's phone before he made a fool of himself.

"Hah," Daichi said, and then reached for the glass of water, knocking it back like a shot. He slammed the empty glass back down on the bar and pulled a face. "That wasn't sake."

"Mmm," Asahi hummed, deliberately vague as he refilled the glass with some more water. Daichi heaved a dispirited sigh, laying his cheek along the countertop. Asahi did his best to keep it clean, but it was probably still sticky and not very hygienic.

"Our babies would be so gorgeous," he said. " _Suga's_  babies would be so gorgeous. Suga with babies. How'm I supposed to live like this? How is this fair?"

"It's not," Asahi agreed. If life were fair, he wouldn't be subjected to babysitting ridiculous drunk Daichi and his thirst for babies and Suga, or more specifically, Suga _with_  babies.

"I need more sake," Daichi said.

"You need to go home," Asahi told him. "Are you even going to be able to make it to the station like this? Do I need to call you a taxi?"

"'m _fine_. Stop mothering me. Only my actual mother is allowed to do that."

"What about--"

"And Suga. Suga and my mum. Not you."

Asahi rubbed at the back of his neck, which was stiff and aching from a combination of standing around all evening and stressing over his idiot friends. "I wouldn't need to mother you if you would be sensible and let me call you a cab," he pointed out.

" _Or_ you could do your job and get me another glass of sake," Daichi suggested.

It wasn't quite his captain voice, but it was close enough that Asahi's hand reflexively flinched towards the bottle before he clenched it into a fist and forced it down by his side.

"I _am_  doing my job," he said, as firmly as he was able. "It's called responsible service of alcohol. Don't make me call Suga, Daichi."

He'd kind of expected Daichi to protest this, but Daichi must have been even drunker than Asahi had thought, because instead he just moaned, "Sugaaaaaa," and faceplanted his forehead into the bar top with a worrying _thunk_. "I wish I'd taken a photo. Of Suga and babies. But I didn't want to look like a creeper. And now I regret it. Because I _am_  a creeper."

_Noya help Daichi is crying about Suga & babies and he's really REALLY drunk_, Asahi hurriedly tapped out one-handed under the bar.

_wait rly can u take a video & send it?_

_NOYA_

_jk jk ok shit soz u shld totally call suga man this is beyond the bro code, ryuu agrees_

_you told Tanaka?!_

_yes? is that bad? he's over 2 play monster hunter 2gether i thought u knew_

_Never mind, it's fine, just... don't ever mention this to Daichi, okay, he can't know I told you guys._

_lol i know i'm not a super genius but im not suicidal its cool, ryuu's down_

"Asahi, are you texting Noya?" Daichi said suddenly, eyes narrowed with-- well, probably because he was seeing double by now, but he also looked more than a little suspicious.

"Um."

"One of your best friends is having a midlife crisis and you're _texting your boyfriend_?"

"You're only twenty-five," Asahi said weakly.

"Crisis!" Daichi insisted, smacking his palm down for emphasis. Given how pulled together and reasonable Daichi usually was, it'd be funny if Asahi weren't so concerned.

Well, maybe it was still a little funny. Or it would be, in retrospect, once he was no longer worrying about Daichi passing out in a gutter or cracking his skull or giving himself alcohol poisoning or something.

“I really am calling Suga now,” he told Daichi. Aside from the fact that Suga was the cause of Daichi’s drinking binge, there was exactly one person who could tell Daichi off so he'd listen without being in a position of authority over him, and that hadn't changed since high school.

“Mmm. D’you think he'll have babies with me if I ask nicely?”

Honestly, Suga probably _would_  if he could, but Asahi tactfully didn't say that because he didn't want to encourage Daichi when he was this plastered.

Instead of responding, Asahi hit dial on Suga’s number and slid the glass of water closer to Daichi as he listened to the ring tone.

“Hello? Asahi?” Suga said, picking up on the third ring.

“Um, hi,” Asahi greeted awkwardly. He always got anxious with phone calls, preferring to text so he could think carefully about his words before he communicated them or talk in person where there were cues from body language, so Suga was undoubtedly surprised that Asahi would be calling him, especially when he was supposed to be working. “Is… is now okay? I'm not interrupting anything, am I?”

“What? No, now’s fine, I'm just at home,” Suga said, voice a little distorted over the poor connection. “Is something wrong?”

“Not-- _wrong_ , exactly, just--”

“Suuuugaaaaa,” Daichi interrupted him, loud enough that Asahi was sure he could be heard on the other end of the line. “Suga! Let's have babies together!”

“Oh my god, is that Daichi?” Suga said, barely stifling his giggles.

Asahi groaned, covering his face with his free hand. Suga was going to tease Daichi mercilessly for this and Daichi was going to kill Asahi for getting Suga involved, but what else was he supposed to do?

“He's so drunk, Suga, he can't be trusted to get home by himself but he won't let me call a taxi and I don't finish work for another two hours!”

Suga hummed, sounding more amused than concerned. “Is he wearing a suit? No, wait, is he still wearing the _tie_ , Asahi?”

“I… yes? Wait, why--”

“No reason, never mind,” Suga said, entirely unconvincingly. “Can you put me on speaker phone?”

“Um… sure…?” Asahi switched the phone to speaker mode and set it down on the counter near Daichi. “There you go.”

“Thanks,” Suga said, voice small and tinny over the terrible phone speakers. “Daichi, can you hear me?”

Daichi lit up like a lovesick puppy. If Asahi were a worse friend-- or one less afraid of Daichi’s inevitable retribution-- and his phone weren't already in use, he'd be recording this for posterity and blackmail.

“Suga!”

More muffled giggling. “Babies, Daichi?”

“They'd be so cute,” Daichi said, with a wistful sigh.

“Not that I'm arguing, but what kind of girl do you take me for?” Suga said archly. “No babies until the third date.”

“Suga!” Asahi complained.

“Really?”

“ _Daichi_.”

“Yes, really,” Suga said, the liar. “But you actually have to ask me on a date first.”

Asahi thought about telling Suga off for taking advantage of drunk people, but honestly, if liquid courage was going to compel Daichi to actually make a move, they'd all be happier for it.

Daichi’s brows scrunched, like maybe he was trying to remember why asking Suga out was a bad idea, or find the catch.

“Are you teasing me?” he said warily, surprisingly lucid all things considered.

“Only a little,” Suga said, and Asahi could hear the smile in his voice. “So, are you going to ask me on a date?”

“... are you gonna say yes if I do?”

“I will if you're wearing a suit and tie,” Suga said cheerfully. “And if you drink your water and stop causing trouble for Asahi until I get there.”

That was another lie, Asahi thought. If Daichi actually managed to ask him out, Suga would say yes no matter what. But he appreciated the assistance.

Daichi blinked several times, apparently stunned. “Really? You'll… you'd go out with me?”

Asahi stared at him, wondering how this could possibly come as a surprise, but then, he supposed Daichi _had_  been chickening out of asking Suga on a date for at least six years by now. So maybe he really was that dense.

“I feel like that should be my line,” Suga muttered, probably not meaning for it to be overheard. “Anyway, yes! Yes, I will go out with you, so just… stay put, okay? I'll be there in twenty.”

The phone clicked, and the screen showed the end call log.

“Asahi,” Daichi said blankly. “Asahi, did Suga say he'd go out with me? It wasn't a drunk hallu-- halluci-- thing, thing that isn't real, I didn't imagine it, right?”

“You're not _that_  drunk,” Asahi reassured him. Almost, maybe, but not quite, mostly thanks to Asahi’s well meaning interference. “Here, drink your water, you promised Suga, remember?”

“Mm, okay,” Daichi agreed, suddenly docile now that he had achieved the previously impossible task of getting Suga to go out with him. Maybe he was in shock. He was probably in shock. Asahi didn't care, honestly, so long as he sat there quietly and drank the water instead of getting into more trouble.

As he wiped the bar down, keeping one eye on Daichi, Asahi reflected that he was lucky it was late on a Thursday night and the place was pretty dead, because he really wasn't getting much work done with how Daichi had been keeping his hands full. Thank god for Suga.

Although come to think of it, Daichi wouldn't be here drinking away his sorrows if not for Suga and their ridiculously extended mating dance, so perhaps not.

_I called Suga & he's coming to pick Daichi up_, Asahi messaged Noya quickly once Daichi appeared safely preoccupied. _He asked Suga out? Suga said yes???_

_OMFG R U 4 REEL?!?!?!_

_well kind of, he asked Suga to have his children & Suga said not unless they're dating so technically Suga asked first_

_i need to tell ryuu I need to tell EVERYONE omg group chat!!! ε=ε=ε=ε=ε=┌(￣◇￣)┘_

_Noya Daichi will KILL US ALL_

_pffft w/e hes not the boss of me nemore_

_Noya!_

_ok ok FINE no group chat but u gotta tell me all the deets!!! wtf happened? r u srs about the baby thing????_

Asahi spent most of the following fifteen minutes or so slowly describing the evening’s chain of events to Noya-- he wasn't the fastest with the phone keypad, but he was getting better with extensive practice, since Noya liked to keep in touch with random photos and status updates throughout the day and the rest of his former teammates tended to message each other fairly often on LINE and Twitter as well.

He was about halfway through his report on the phone conversation when Suga ran in through the door, cheeks flushed and hair dishevelled.

“Hi,” he wheezed, clutching at his chest as he doubled over slightly, panting in short gasps. It was true that none of them got as much exercise now as they had before they all started working full time, but he must have sprinted the whole way from the station if he was that out of breath.

Daichi's head jerked up. “Suga! You're here!”

Suga collapsed on the bar stool next to him before Daichi could try to get up, which was probably for the best.

“I'm here,” he agreed, still obviously a little breathless. Asahi winced in sympathy, pouring a second glass of water and setting it in front of him.

“Sorry, you didn't need to rush so much,” he said apologetically. “It wasn't like it's an emergency, we would've been fine for a little longer.”

“Are you kidding?” Suga said, running his hand through his hair in a futile attempt at tidying it. “Daichi finally asked me on a date, how is that _not_  an emergency? Just how drunk is he, anyway?”

“I am _not that drunk_ ,” Daichi protested. Suga rolled his eyes.

“No one asked you, you can't be trusted,” he said witheringly. “Asahi, seriously, I need to know.”

Asahi considered this. “In my professional opinion?”

“Yes, and also your subjective opinion as his friend.”

“Drunk enough that he has no filters, probably has no balance, and should definitely stop drinking now,” Asahi settled on. “Not blackout drunk, at least not yet.”

“Good,” Suga said decisively, then fisted his hand in Daichi's tie, hauled him closer with such a violent yank that Daichi stumbled forward and almost fell off the barstool, and crashed his mouth into Daichi's so hard it looked painful.

“Careful!” Asahi yelped, but unsurprisingly neither of them were paying any attention to him.

After a few seconds of clearly stunned inaction, Daichi melted into Suga, sliding his arms around Suga's waist to pull him closer. Suga's free hand had snaked around Daichi's neck and was now clenched in his hair. Asahi was beginning to feel uncomfortably voyeuristic, even though they were the ones rapidly overshooting first base right in front of him.

He cleared his throat, wondering if he should say something before this went too far, but before he got the chance, Suga suddenly shoved Daichi back and held him at arm’s length.

“You _really_  taste like alcohol,” he said, wrinkling his nose.

“He has drunk rather a lot,” Asahi mumbled, just in case anyone had forgotten this.

“Sorry?” Daichi said, a little pathetically, probably without the faintest clue what he was actually apologising for.

“Well, if alcohol is what finally inspired you to decide you actually want to date me, then there's nothing to be sorry for,” Suga said, then frowned. “Unless you change your mind in the morning. Or forget this happened.”

“I told you, ‘m not _that_ \-- ow! Suga! Stop hitting me!”

“No take backs, Daichi, I mean it!”

“Why would I take it back?” Daichi said, obviously bewildered. Asahi had the feeling that if Noya were here, he'd be making jokes about breaking out the popcorn, but personally Asahi felt like he was suffering from secondhand awkwardness just watching them.

“If you're drunk enough that Asahi is calling me to collect you and you're asking me to have your babies, you're definitely drunk enough to be making questionable life choices,” Suga said.

Daichi blushed, which suggested maybe he was starting to sober up a little, just enough to remember what shame was.

“Just because I think we'd make good parents,” he mumbled.

“Of course we would, we've had more than enough practice wrangling unruly children together,” Suga said briskly. Asahi winced a little on behalf of their poor maligned kouhai, but it was hard to argue. “Not the point, Daichi, focus.”

“I am focussing,” Daichi objected. “... what’m I supposed to be focussing on?”

Suga’s expression slid into something troubled and pensive. “Questionable life choices,” he repeated. “Like suddenly agreeing to go out on a date with your best friend, after years of nothing, when you've been drinking. Are you telling me that's a coincidence?”

“Well, no,” Daichi admitted. Suga flinched. Asahi flinched with him out of sympathy, even knowing that Suga’s fears were entirely unfounded. In Suga’s place, he'd probably be throwing up from nerves by now. “Only because I was afraid you'd say no, though. But then you asked me, so-- wait, unless you were kidding? You weren't kidding, right? I mean, you kissed me, so I thought… Suga? Please say something?”

Suga blinked, eyes wide and startled in the dim lighting of the bar. “Daichi, are you serious right now?” he said, faint with incredulity. “How could you possibly think I'd say no, when I’ve been flirting with you for actual, literal,  _years_?”

Daichi stared back at him, bewilderment written all over his face. “You have?”

“Oh my god,” Suga said. “Oh my god, Daichi, _really_? How dense _are_  you?”

Asahi decided not to point out that Suga was just as bad, considering how stupid in love with him Daichi obviously was and had been for just as long as Suga had been flirting. Every time Asahi had tried to point this out to him in the past, Suga had brushed him off, convinced that Daichi couldn't possibly be that oblivious, insisting that if Daichi hadn't responded to Suga's flirting by now he must be ignoring it deliberately to save them both from going through an actual rejection.

“I should probably feel insulted but I'm too happy right now.” Daichi's mouth lifted in a small smile, lopsided and endearingly sheepish. “Just to be sure… you _are_ saying you'll be my boyfriend, right?”

“Well, _obviously_ ,” Suga said, although the flush on his cheeks belied his attempt at flippancy. Daichi’s smile grew until he was full-out beaming at Suga with this embarrassingly soppy look on his face, and Suga’s blush spread until his ears and neck were bright red.

“Anyway!” he continued abruptly, clearly flustered. “It's late and we really should be getting out of Asahi’s hair, so let's split a taxi home, okay?”

Daichi wilted. “You're not staying the night?”

“We've both got work tomorrow,” Suga reminded him. Daichi went pale, no doubt finally appreciating the scale of the hangover that awaited him. “And I'm still not totally convinced you're not going to change your mind when you wake up in the morning. But ask me again when you're sober, okay?”

Daichi opened his mouth, maybe to argue, but closed it again when Suga reached out to lace his fingers loosely through Daichi's, not quite meeting his eyes.

“Okay,” Daichi said, ducking his head. “Okay, let's go.”

“Thanks, Asahi,” Suga said, apparently remembering Asahi was still there. “For calling me, and for looking out for Daichi.”

“Sorry,” Daichi added.

“No, no, don't--” Asahi shook his head, feeling awkward about suddenly being pulled back into the conversation. “It's fine, it was nothing, I was just, you know, worried. But, um. Congratulations?”

“Thanks,” Suga said again, softer this time. “Not just for tonight, but for everything. For being a good friend. And for not saying I told you so.”

Daichi blinked. “Told you what?”

“Nothing. Or, well, something, but I'll tell you if and when you remember to ask me out properly,” Suga said. He tugged at Daichi’s hand. “Come on. Asahi, I'll text you to let you know once we're both home safe, okay?”

Asahi nodded. Suga was pretty good about that kind of thing, when he wasn't deliberately teasing Asahi about his paranoia. “And in the morning,” he said. Not that he thought there was any genuine risk that Daichi would forget, and there was less than zero chance of Daichi changing his mind, but Suga was concerned, and Asahi wanted to see this through out of solidarity.

“And in the morning,” Suga agreed. “After Daichi texts me. _Which he'd better._ ”

“Yes, Suga,” Daichi said meekly.

~

The moment Asahi walked in through the door, he was almost bowled over by Noya’s enthusiastic leap into his arms, arms and legs winding around Asahi like a monkey and almost strangling him. The only thing saving Noya from being dumped on his arse was the sheer amount of practice Asahi had at being ambushed like this.

“Asahi-san! Welcome home!” Noya said brightly, then yanked Asahi’s head down by his hair to give him a sloppy greeting kiss.

“Mmmrph!” Asahi garbled around Noya’s tongue, in lieu of _hi honey I'm home_  which was what he'd _meant_  to say. “Noya?!”

“Tonight you witnessed an _actual miracle_ ,” Noya said, possibly by way of explanation for his exuberance. “Don't you think calls for a celebration?”

Asahi would ask why Suga and Daichi finally getting their act together required he and Noya to celebrate, but it _was_  kind of a miracle.

“Not to mention that we finally closed out the betting pool!” Noya cheered, throwing his arms up in the air victoriously, heedless of Asahi’s grip on his thighs tightening in panicked fear that Noya might fall. (He needn't have worried; Noya had ridiculous core strength, and could hold himself up using just his legs wrapped around Asahi’s waist without breaking a sweat.)

“That must be some kind of record,” Asahi said, because as far as he knew, this pool had been running since sometime during his second year. Then, a moment later: “Wait. Wait, Noya, you _told_  everyone?!”

“Okay so I know you said no group chat,” Noya said quickly, “but Ryuu emailed everyone so _technically_  it wasn't a group chat and also it wasn't me.”

“Noya!”

“It was a matter of pride and honour, okay! There was real money at stake!”

If he weren't still holding onto Noya, Asahi would be burying his face in his hands. “Right now, everyone is messaging Daichi and he's gonna know who told them because it was either me or Suga and I'm gonna die,” he said sadly.

“Don't worry, I’ll protect you,” Noya promised, which was sweet but would be more comforting if Daichi wasn't still the one person Noya was legitimately afraid of. “I'm sure Daichi-san will be too happy to kill you, anyway!”

Well. Maybe. Asahi wasn't completely convinced, but Suga might at least keep Daichi distracted for long enough for Asahi to escape.

Asahi adjusted his grip on Noya, strain finally starting to get to his arms. “I'm going to have to put you down, soon.”

“Let's sit on the couch?” Noya bargained. “I need my Asahi-san recharge.”

Asahi laughed, but truthfully he understood how Noya felt. Between Asahi’s late work shifts and Noya’s away games, it had been almost a week since they'd really seen each other face to face.

“Okay, couch,” he agreed, crossing the room with Noya still clinging to him to collapse onto it with a sigh of relief, Noya sprawling across his lap.

They stayed there for a moment in silence, Noya with his head resting against Asahi’s chest and Asahi running a hand gently up and down Noya’s spine as he let the tension bleed out of him.

“… Who won?” Asahi asked eventually, curiosity getting the better of him.

“Hmm?”

“The betting pool.”

“Oh,” Noya said. “Kiyoko-san. Probably we should all have known better than to bet against her.”

Asahi nodded, unsurprised. Kiyoko knew her fellow third years best, out of everyone involved in the pool, and was also very perceptive about others.

“Seriously though, the power of alcohol is amazing. We should've got Daichi hammered sooner, clearly,” Noya mumbled, half asleep, and then Asahi felt him go still before sitting bolt upright. “Hey. Hey, Asahi-san, do you think it'd work on Kageyama and Shouyou?”

“Noya!” Asahi said, scandalised. “Hinata is too young for that!”

Noya gave him a look. “... Asahi. He's 23.”

“He's _Hinata_ ,” Asahi said stubbornly.

Noya gave a dramatic sigh, flopping back down against Asahi. “Ugh, _fine_ ,” he complained. “Spoilsport. We need to come up with _something_ , though, because the stupidity is killing me.”

"And because you don't want to lose another betting pool," Asahi felt compelled to add.

Noya tilted his head to look up at him, smirking. "And because I don't want to lose another betting pool,” he said. “Aren't you glad we got our shit together before anyone could start a pool about us?”

“I'm thankful every day,” Asahi said truthfully. Not just because the idea of their friends betting about their love life was mortifying, but also because it meant that he was lucky enough to have Noya, and had been that lucky since high school.

Noya’s smirk softened into a genuine smile. “Sap,” he said, knowing Asahi well enough to know what he was thinking. “Anyway, now Suga-san and Daichi-san have that too, thanks to you! Don't you think we owe it to Shouyou and Kageyama to help them out? Their pool has been running almost as long as Daichi-san and Suga-san’s had been! It's a travesty, you know?”

“Mmm,” said Asahi, who honestly was pretty sure that no force on earth would overcome the combined obliviousness of Hinata and Kageyama in the remotely near future. “Well. We can try?”

Noya leered at him. “I'll try _you_ ,” he said suggestively, draping his arms around Asahi’s neck.

“That doesn't even make sense,” Asahi said, but let Noya pull him down into another kiss, because out of all the ways they could be spending their rare and precious time at home alone together, plotting about their friends’ love lives really did not top Asahi’s list of priorities.

~

Daichi groaned when his alarm went off, burying his head under the pillow to block out the morning light and muffle the horrendous noise bouncing around his skull like an echo chamber. He reached out to smack it into submission, fumbling a few times before he managed to shut it up-- either permanently or on snooze, but right now he'd take anything for a moment’s reprieve-- and seriously considered rolling over and going back to sleep.

Was it less professional to call in sick to work for a hangover, or to go to work while obviously hungover?

This was honestly not the kind of question that Daichi had expected to ever have to ask himself, but here he was.

He lay there for a moment, taking stock. Head: pounding. Stomach: roiling. Memories of last night…

“Oh no,” Daichi moaned, and promptly dove out of bed in a mad dash for the bathroom before he puked his guts up.

Several minutes later, he was still sprawled on the floor hugging the toilet bowl, cheek pressed miserably against the cool porcelain as the humiliating recollections filtered back into his mind.

He was going to have to apologise to Asahi, he thought grimly. As for Suga…

God, Suga. Daichi couldn't believe that he'd actually _begged Suga to have his babies_  and Suga had-- Suga had--

Daichi bolted upright in shock as the rest of his memory slotted back into place, then yelped when he cracked his skull on the bathroom cabinet and hunched back over.

“Ow,” he mumbled, rubbing at the back of his poor abused head, which now ached both inside and out.

But… Suga had kissed him? And asked him out. Holy crap, Suga had asked him out, where the hell was his phone?

As if on cue, Daichi heard it buzz from the other room with a notification.

_17 missed calls_ , read the display, when he managed to haul himself back to the bed. _10 new voice messages. 3 text messages_.

Daichi squinted at his phone, bemused, then scrolled down the missed call log.

Missed calls from most of the team he'd captained at Karasuno, including multiple missed calls from Asahi. Three missed calls from Bokuto; a missed call from Kuroo; a missed call from… Oikawa?

What on earth?

Most of them had left messages, but Daichi decided he wasn't strong enough right now to deal with whatever disaster had blown up his phone overnight, especially since he hadn't received any calls from Suga.

He flicked to his text messages and let out the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. One notification about his missed calls, another about his voicemail, and a text from Suga.

_I thought about calling but I figured you'd be feeling pretty sorry for yourself right now_ , it said. _How much do you remember?_

_Wasn’t that drunk_ , Daichi texted back, painstakingly slow because his fingers were too big and he'd never gotten the hang of the tiny phone keyboard on his screen and his hands were maybe shaking a little.

Three dots appeared below his message to show that Suga was typing a response, then they disappeared. Daichi stared at the screen as the dots reappeared and disappeared a few more times, feeling distinctly like throwing up again and only slightly due to his hangover.

_And?_  was all the message unhelpfully said, when Suga finally sent it. Daichi frowned, fingers hovering over the keyboard for a moment before he gave up and hit dial instead.

“Hello?” Suga answered, sounding a little hesitant, maybe wary.

“‘And’ what?” Daichi demanded.

Suga was silent for a moment, during which Daichi struggled valiantly to keep his rising panic under control.

“If you really remember last night, you should know what,” Suga said eventually.

He should… what? Wait, had he and Suga… they hadn't…

But no, that wasn't possible. He remembered that Suga had helped him up to his apartment late last night, and made sure he was okay, but had kept the taxi waiting downstairs and left pretty quickly after.

On the heels of that thought came the memory of Suga back at the bar, saying _ask me again when you're sober_.

“Oh,” said Daichi, the relief flowing through him like a rush of blood to the head and making him feel faint. He sat down heavily on the edge of the bed. “I, um. Yeah. I remember.”

There was a sharp intake of breath from the other end of the line, but Suga didn't speak.

It was surprisingly difficult to form the words without the alcohol to insulate him from the terror of rejection, even knowing there was a close to zero percent chance Suga would turn him down. Daichi licked his lips, which didn't help much because his mouth was completely dry. Just say it, just--

“Pleasegooutwithme,” he blurted in a terrifying, incomprehensible rush, practically biting his tongue in the process, and slapped his hand over his eyes in mortification. “Uh. That is, I mean--”

“Yes,” Suga cut him off, before Daichi could start babbling and make even more of a fool of himself. There was a hurried tone to his voice, as though he thought Daichi might change his mind if Suga wasn't quick enough. “Come over after work, wear the suit, don't be late, I'll tell you where we're going when we get there, gotta go bye!”

_Click_.

Daichi blinked and pulled the phone away from his ear to stare at it.

_Call ended 0:04_

Suga had hung up on him?

Suga had definitely hung up on him.

But not, he realised, before agreeing to go out with him. It suddenly occurred to him how nervous he would be, in Suga’s shoes, waiting to see if Daichi remembered, if he’d meant it, if he'd changed his mind…

Which meant that Suga was as invested in this as he was. Come to think of it… Suga had been the first one to suggest going out on a date, even if he'd made it sound like a joke that could have been laughed off. And he'd been the first one to kiss Daichi, which hadn't been a joke at all.

And now, finally, after over a decade of friendship and nearly as long spent pining… they were going on a date. A real date, where Daichi could kiss Suga some more without alcohol or Asahi as an unwitting audience and he could persuade Suga to be his boyfriend and stop feeling like a creeper every time he turned to mush at how good Suga was with kids.

“YES!” Daichi cheered, then cringed and clutched at his head because _ow_. Okay, maybe still too soon for loud noises and sudden movement. But. A date! With Suga! Tonight, after--

After work, for which he was _running late_  because he'd slept in and then panicked and then rung Suga.

“Ahhhhh!” Daichi yelled, then threw his phone on the bed and made a break for the shower. Whatever, all his other messages could wait; they were all adults now, even Hinata, and they could sort their own shit out for a change.

 

**~OMAKE~**

_Hi, this is Sawamura Daichi. I am unable to come to the phone right now, so please leave a message after the tone and I will return your call as soon as possible._

* **BEEP** *

“Daichi-san! Congrats, man, I can't believe you finally tied the knot! ( _Ryuu, they're dating, not getting married, geez_.) Whatever, close enough, this is team mum and dad! You know it's only a matter of time-- hey, maybe we could start another pool OW, Noya! What was that-- oh, right. Ahem! Forget that, Daichi-san, anyway, congratulations and all, everyone is rooting for you! Even if we are all super broke now.”

* **BEEP** *

“Daichi-san, Noya-san and Tanaka-sempai said you and Suga-san are dating now? I don't really get it but cool! Does this mean you guys can practice volleyball _all the time_  now, cause that sounds really awe-- _oi, Bakageyama, give my phone back_!”

“-- Sorry, sempai, Hinata is a moron. Um. Congratulations, I guess. Sorry again, bye.”

* **BEEP** *

“Daichi, this is Kiyoko. Assuming that gossip can be trusted, I understand that you have finally asked Suga out and he said yes. Congratulations to you both, I would like to take you both out to celebrate.

“In the interests of full disclosure, this will be funded by my winnings from the betting pool. I hope you recover from your hangover soon.”

* **BEEP** *

“Hi, Sawa-tan, it's Oikawa-san, calling to congratulate you on finally working up the guts to ask out Refreshing-kun! ... _Rude_ , Makki, I am not being _hypocritical_. Anyhow, I hope you are properly appreciative of my well wishes on your future happiness, which I offer out of the goodness of my heart notwithstanding the considerable personal loss of investment involved. Enjoy the hangover, we all look forward to your engagement party~”

* **BEEP** *

“Yo, Sawamura, congrats on finally nutting up and making an honest man out of Sugawara, even if you did bankrupt almost everyone we know in the process! Like, dude, even knowing you both I thought you'd get your shit together before now, but hey, better late than never, right?

“Anyway Kenma’s going to be treating me to burgers for basically the rest of forever because he refused to participate in this, quote unquote, ‘asinine meddling in other people’s personal lives’ and now I'm broke because he wouldn't give me any tips.”

“No I'm not.”

“Yes you are, because you can't stand it when I try to live off cup ramen and that is literally the only thing I can afford right now and it's your fault, I'm counting on you to keep me in the manner to which I am accustomed or whatever. Anyway, congrats again, have fun, tell us all the details!”

( _Call cuts off to the sound of gleeful cackling)_

* **BEEP** *

“Bro! Broooooooo! Congrats bro, I'm so happy for you guys! You guys are going to adopt a whole team of baby crows and I'm gonna be their Uncle Bokuto and it's gonna be AWES--”

( _Clattering noises, muffled yelling, engaged tone_ )

* **BEEP** *

“Whoops Bro, dropped my phone, I think I cracked the screen? But anyway! I'd totally buy you guys a present but I'm flat broke right now cause I thought you and Sugawara would get together, like, after you won Spring High or whatever, or in your first year at uni, or maybe graduation, or--”

( _More muffled noises, engaged tone_ )

* **BEEP** *

“Sawamura-san, this is Akaashi Keiji. I apologise for Bokuto-san. I've confiscated his phone, so it won't happen again.

“... um. Congratulations.”

_Um, this is Azumane Asahi’s phone… I'm really sorry I missed your call! Sorry! Please leave a message?_

* **BEEP** *

“Asahi, would you like to explain to me why my message bank is full of people congratulating me and commiserating on my hangover? And what the hell is this about a _betting pool_?”

* **BEEP** *

“Pick up your damn phone!”

* **BEEP** *

“You squirrelly bearded menace, are you screening my calls?”

* **BEEP** *

“Is this Noya's fault? It's Noya's fault, isn't it.”

* **BEEP** *

“Ugh, _fine_ , you coward. Be that way. I'm not even mad anymore, you told Noya, of course you told Noya, why would I expect anything else? But you can tell Noya that he better watch his back, because I _will_  get my revenge.”

* **BEEP** *

“Seriously, Asahi, will you pick up? I have a date! A date with Suga! What the hell do I do? Why the hell did he agree to go out with me? Why did he tell me to wear a suit? Do you think it's too early to start picking out baby names?

“Shit, of course it is, this is embarrassing, _I’m_  embarrassing. Asahi, you better delete this message or else! If you let Noya hear it I am going to destroy you!”

* **BEEP** *

“Hi, Asahi, this is Suga. Thank you again for your help last night and honestly for putting up with Daichi and me since high school.

“Everything is fine, sorry I didn't call you earlier like I promised, it's been a lot. Also. Please let Noya know that I know about the pool and will be very disappointed if the spoils are not shared with us, and also how very dare you all place bets on our personal lives?”

“Um, Suga, isn't that a bit hypocritical when you're practically running the pool about Kageyama and--”

“Shhh, Daichi, not the point.

“Anyway, we’re going to go have filthy rotten sex all over every surface in Daichi’s apartment now because I lied and I totally _am_  that kind of girl ( _Suga!_ ) so enjoy your evening! Noya, if you're moaning about your delicate ears and TMI right now, it's your own fault for listening to Asahi’s messages and I'm not sorry at all.

“Bye~!”


End file.
